Neal's Yard Dairy

During the summer of last year, Randolph visited Joe Schneider, hoping to improve the texture of Stichelton. Although many recipe elements had been tweaked and carefully adapted since Stichelton first hit our counters, the buttery texture that Randolph and Joe were aiming for, still eluded them.

They began work, looking in depth at the way the acidity was developing during the make and maturing, plus all the factors that could influence this, making changes accordingly with the aim of achieving less acidic cheeses. The effect of this began to be felt in their November cheeses when the trial and error started to noticeably pay off. As these cheeses matured, the flavours were more predominantly malty, toasty and rich than fruity and acidic and this is how we like them best. The texture however was not solved just yet. It became the next challenge.

While making Stichelton, after handladling the curd from the vat, it is left to drain overnight on draining trolleys. These trolleys have a plug that can be removed allowing slow drainage. Until early December, Joe had left this plug in overnight, removing it the following morning, but he wondered if this meant the curd sat in its own whey for too long. Removing the plug the evening before rather than the morning after sounds like a small change, but the effect has been that the textures are more uniform; the cheeses break down to a more even creaminess and the flavours are richer, smoother and more savoury.

It doesn’t end there though. In the early part of this year, Joe was visited by Jemima Cordle who used to make Duckett’s Caerphilly and who has a formidable scientific understanding as well as practical cheesemaking experience. She took the further stage of turning the blocks of curd on the draining tables in order for it to drain a little more. We’re waiting with interest to see how these cheeses develop before Joe experiments further but it’s an interesting time and one that we hope will bear fruit before too long

Please note all photos are for illustrative purposes only.
For further information regarding Neal's Yard Dairy and our cheeses, please visit our website by clicking here